More than 1,100 asylum seekers have falsely claimed to be children over the past year, according to official figures.
Two out of three cases where age was disputed and resolved were found to be 18 years or older in the 12 months to September.
It is the highest proportion since the Home Office began recording the figures in 2006. The average for the past five years was 55 per cent.
Migration Watch UK, a think tank that campaigns for lower immigration, said the figures exposed the need for tougher age assessment checks. In one case a balding man in his forties was placed in a school.
Priti Patel, the home secretary, has announced a crackdown on adult asylum seekers who pose as children in order
